Are Rhinovirus-induced Airway Responses in Asthma Aggravated by Chronic Allergen Exposure?
Josephine de Kluijver,
Christine E. Evertse,
Jacob K. Sont,
Jasmijn A. Schrumpf,
Christel J. G. van Zeijl-van der Ham,
Claire R. Dick,
Klaus F. Rabe,
Pieter S. Hiemstra and
Peter J. Sterk
Departments of Pulmonology, Medical Decision Making, and Virology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands; and Respiratory Virus Research Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Peter J. Sterk, M.D., Ph.D., Lung Function Laboratory, C2-P, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, NL-2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. E-mail: p.j.sterk{at}lumc.nl
Airway inflammation in asthma may represent a favorable environmentfor respiratory viral infections, augmenting virus-induced exacerbationsin asthma. We postulated that repeated low-dose allergen exposurepreceding experimental rhinovirus 16 (RV16) infection increasesthe severity of RV-induced airway obstruction and inflammation.Thirty-six house dust miteallergic patients with mildto moderate asthma participated in a three-arm, parallel, placebo-controlled,double-blind study. Patients inhaled a low dose of house dustmite allergen for 10 subsequent working days (Days 15and 812) and/or were subsequently infected with RV16(Days 15 and 16). Allergen exposure resulted in a significantfall in FEV1 (p < 0.001) and provocative concentration ofhistamine causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (p < 0.001) and an increasein exhaled nitric oxide (p < 0.001) and percentage of sputumeosinophils (p < 0.001). RV16 infection led to a fall inFEV1 (p = 0.02) and increases in the percentage of sputum neutrophils(p = 0.01), sputum interleukin-8 (p = 0.04), and neutrophilelastase (p = 0.04). Successive allergen exposure and RV16 infectionhad no synergistic or additive effect on any of the clinicalor inflammatory outcomes. In conclusion, repeated low-dose allergenexposure and RV16 infection induce distinct inflammatory profileswithin the airways in asthma without apparent interaction betweenthese two environmental triggers. This suggests that precedingallergen exposure, at the used dose and duration, is not a determinantof the severity of RV-induced exacerbations in patients withmild to moderate asthma.
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